A crowd of hundreds turned out Thursday afternoon for the Tutu to Brew bike parade and beer festival, which started at Buckley Park and proceeded up the Animas River Trail to Ska Brewing Co. in Bodo Industrial Park.

STEVE LEWIS/Durango Herald

A crowd of hundreds turned out Thursday afternoon for the Tutu to Brew bike parade and beer festival, which started at Buckley Park and proceeded up the Animas River Trail to Ska Brewing Co. in Bodo Industrial Park.

The Tutu to Brew bike parade and beer festival marked another triumph of Durangoans’ suspect sartorial taste and joyous abandon in whimsy.

In honor of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge, more than 300 people convened in Buckley Park on Thursday evening to make the 3˝-mile journey to Ska Brewery using the Animas River Trail. The majority wore tutus.

Ron LeBlanc, Durango’s city manager, was in a hot-pink tutu and a matching beauty pageant sash, which declared him “Miss Management.”

The size of the crowd did not surprise LeBlanc.

“Durangoans love to dress up and drink,” he said. “Some towns take pride in fashion. We take pride in being the worst-dressed town in America and demonstrating that to the world.”

If professional cyclists participated in the parade, they concealed their prowess well.

An impossible array of body types – zaftig, svelte, aged, bulbous and preadolescent – mounted their bikes and headed off. From Santa Rita Park, it appeared the Animas River Trail had been descended on by a demented fairy cavalry riding metal steeds.

From the highway, however, the long single-file stream of cyclists resembled a migration of exotic birds with improbably well-endowed rear ends.

Durangoans’ interpretations of the tutu were diverse. Many were mini-skirt length, causing the tulle to appear like a stubbly Mohawk wrapped around the waist.

Others went past the knee, the tulle wilting against the thighs like a petticoat.

Men particularly seized the opportunity to experiment with length and cut. An elderly man opted to wear a cheerleader’s micro-mini with sneakers and bare legs, one of the more abstract approximations of the classic tutu.

The crowd at Ska flaunted many staples of Durango fashion, including tattoos, neon fishnet stockings, socks with sandals, cowboy hats and tan lines of uncertain origin.

But some of the most exciting accessories were totally off-topic, including a raft of feather boas, a Chinese rice picker’s straw hat, a jester’s cap, a blue mermaid wig streaked with tinsel and an inexplicable space helmet with Viking accents.

On arriving at Ska, the first cyclists were met with applause. They victoriously dismounted at the mouth of the parking lot and promptly searched for ID.

In the parking lot, latecomers struggled to find places to stash their bikes, which, like the people riding them, ran the gamut, from dilapidated to striking.

Tori Ossola said she was there because of the “fact that we get another opportunity to dress up again in Durango.”

Connie Robb said this was “not her first dress-up bike ride.”

Ossola’s friend Sarah Sumner said she borrowed her tutu from her daughter.

“Whoever came up with the tutu idea – great idea,” Sumner said. “Its creative, unique and fun.”

Ian McCarthy, a 9-year-old Needham Elementary School student, was wearing a magnificent black and green tutu that matched his black helmet. Asked whether he liked wearing a tutu, he shook his head resignedly while his mother, Paula Mills, laughed.

“He was coerced into it,” said his father, Jim McCarthy.

When asked why he was not wearing a tutu, too, Jim McCarthy said, “Not enough coercion.”

“They talked me into wearing this tutu, and, of course, they’re not here,” said Clay Patton, referring to his girlfriend and a few of his female co-workers who were planning to ride in the Tutu to Brew bike parade.

STEVE LEWIS/Durango Herald

“They talked me into wearing this tutu, and, of course, they’re not here,” said Clay Patton, referring to his girlfriend and a few of his female co-workers who were planning to ride in the Tutu to Brew bike parade.

Camping, parking, city closures

Several campgrounds along the Stage I route from Durango to Telluride will offer camping for a fee, and many campsites can be reserved. These campgrounds will not allow day-use parking for spectators. A number of spectators are expected at Lizard Head Pass for a “King of the Mountain” event. Camping and parking restrictions will be in place at and near Lizard Head Pass, and staff members will direct camping and day-use spectators to appropriate areas. For more information, visit www.fs.usda.gov/gmug.In Durango, city administrative offices at City Hall and River City Hall will be closed Monday and Tuesday. Building Services will be open at River City Hall. The airport and the utilities department at the general services office also will be open.The police department lobby will be closed from 9:45 to 10:45 a.m. Monday.The Durango Community Recreation Center will be closed from Monday to Aug. 25 for maintenance. Parks & Recreation and Greenmount Cemetery administrative offices, Chapman Hill and the Mason Center will be closed Monday.The Durango Public Library and all branches will be open.Commercial and residential trash and recycling pickup will occur as scheduled with all drop-off locations open. The Durango Recycling Center also will be open.Transit will run the Main Avenue trolley and fixed-route buses, which will be free today through Monday. For a schedule, visit www.getarounddurango.com. The parking window at the center will be open Monday and Tuesday. For more information, call 259-5438. Two trolleys will run to Fort Lewis College for the gala from 4:30 to 10:30 p.m. Saturday. Service will begin picking up guests at the DoubleTree Hotel, 501 Camino del Rio, travel to the Transit Center concourse, 250 W. Eighth St., to the Strater Hotel, 699 Main Ave., and to the Rochester Hotel, 721 East Second Ave. These trolleys will run every 15 minutes.On Sunday, two shuttle buses will run from the La Plata County Fairgrounds, 2500 Main Ave. to Buckley Park, 12th Street and Main Avenue, from 3:30 to 10:30 p.m. for the street festival that will take place from 4 to 9 p.m. with a fireworks show beginning at 9:15 p.m. Main Avenue will be closed from 11th to Fifth streets.Shuttle buses will travel from the Transit Center, 250 W. Eighth St., to satellite parking lots at the Durango Mall, 800 South Camino del Rio; Twin Buttes, 20091 U.S. Highway 160; Fort Lewis College; and La Plata County Fairgrounds/Durango High School, 2500 and 2400 Main Ave., from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday.Buzz Buses will run today, Saturday and Sunday. For more information, call 259-5438.Bike Parking on Monday will be available on designated bike racks on the sidewalks. Parking meters will be free Monday.Herald Staff